


Fear

by CaptRocket



Series: 31 Days of Wayhaven Challenge [1]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptRocket/pseuds/CaptRocket
Summary: Right after the encounter with Murphy, Nate's unsure how to comfort Emma.
Relationships: Female Detective/Nathaniel "Nate" Sewell
Series: 31 Days of Wayhaven Challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956121
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Fear

Nate had lost track of how long he had watched her sitting on the other side of the library. She was sitting on a well-worn leather highbacked chair. Her sock covered feet pulled up on the chair beneath her as she leaned her temple against the wing of the chair. Her arms wrapped around her tightly as she shivered occasionally. A pained expression twisting her bruised and scraped face when a memory crossed her mind.

His heart broke as he looked at her. The news of Murphy’s escape had been a difficult one for her to hear. He didn’t need a mind reader to know she felt as if she failed. She tried her best to save them after he had bit her unfortunately, she was too weak to fight the vampire. Murphy was riding the highs of her blood, supercharged and overpowered after draining her. 

The memories of her laying there in that deserted warehouse. Batter, bruised and bleeding from the gash in her neck haunted his thoughts. After more than three centuries walking the Earth he thought he would have became immune to such things. In a way he was, until he had seen her at the Farris Warehouse that fateful night. His eyes had focused on her emerald orbs and was thinking about them regularly. 

“You need to say something to her, Nate,” Felix said from behind him. 

The younger man moved closer to stand beside him in the back of the library. His voice low and full of concern. Not his usual playful self that Nate had grown to appreciate from his friend. 

Folding his arms across his chest, Nate’s eyes closed as his head dropped with a release a heavy sign. “I wished it was that easy, Felix.” Shaking his head, he said, “She needs to be alone. To process everything. Rebecca’s right. She just needs time.”

“Wrong.”

Nate’s eyes opened wide as he spun to look at the other man. “What did you just say?”

The younger man turned and pointed a finger at the taller man, jabbing him in the upper chest. “You. Are. Wrong,” he said, sounding out each word carefully. “So is Agent Kingston. You’re both wrong.” Shaking his head, his coiled hair bounced across his head with each twist of his neck. “I mean…” He stopped shaking his head to look up at the older vampire. “She needs someone to be with her right now.”

Staring down at the other man briefly, Nate turned to look at the human woman sitting across the library from where he stood. Hearing Felix be straightforward was something he wasn’t accustom to. The younger man always spoke with playful jabs or teasing words, not this time. He was being firm and sure of his words. 

“She’s had a lot of shit dropped on her lap the last couple of weeks. Her world has turned upside down,” Felix said as he turned to look at her with sadness in his eyes. He had grown attached to the detective in a friendship so different than he had with his fellow members of Unit Bravo. “What she needs is a friend.” Shrugging, he turned back to the older vampire. “And since she won’t speak to me, maybe you’re what she needs.”

Nate bit down on his lower lip as his shoulders slumped. His head snapped back to the younger man when he made a vague reference of having Mason speak with her. “No,” he replied quickly, shaking off the thought of that happening. “I’ll go speak with her.”

“Then maybe you should soon.”

Nodding, Nate wiped his sweaty palms down the front of his trousers and took a long, deep breath. For the first time in decades, he was afraid. Fear had frozen him to the spot where he stood. Yet, seeing her across the library, wiping tears from her cheek all he wanted to do was be that person to wipe those tears away. To tell her it was all right to be afraid, but he would be there for her. She will never need to fear anything or anyone again.

Felix placed his hand on the other man’s back and gave him a gentle nudge forward. “Go before I get Mason.”

That first step felt as if his feet were weighted down in concrete. It took all his energy to move across the vast library to where she sat. Once he reached her, standing behind her chair where she sat, he was tempted to turn and run away. Inhaling deeply, he walked around the chair and sat down on the small table in front of her. 

“Emma…” his voice just barely over a whisper as he looked at her. 

The detective remained still, unmoving as she sat there. Her face tear streaked and swollen from crying. The scrapes and cuts that were visible beneath the oversized t-shirt and leggings that she wore were healing well. The gauze bandage across her neck remained from where Murphy ripped into her to feed. Her eyes were vacant as she stared off into the distance. Void of life as her gaze was unfocused on some unknown location in the room. 

Saying her name again, his hand tentatively reached out to place it on her knee. When her dull eyes met his he noticed that her vibrant emerald eyes didn’t hold that shine that he had found himself wanting to sink in. 

“I’m sorry for not protecting you,” he said as his head slowly lowered, his eyes closing. “I promised you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you and…” Shaking his head, he sucked in a ragged breath. “I was afraid. Feared that I had lost you just when I had found you.” Lifting his head, he opened his eyes to look at her pale skin. “I can’t bare the thought of losing you, Emma. And right now, I fear that I have.” His eyes met hers as she moved them to look at him. “I’m afraid of losing you.”

The tears welled in her eyes as her trembling hand moved to cover his that rested on her knee. Squeezing his hand softly, she said, “I thought I had lost you, Nate. When the thralls…”

Dropping to his knees in front of her, Nate pulled her into his arms to hold her tightly against his body. Being careful not to hurt her as he wrapped his strong arms around her frail body. “I would fight through hell and back to keep you safe, Emma. Nothing will keep me away from you.”

Emma fell from the chair, enveloped in Nate’s arms as he pulled her to him. They sat on the floor of the library, clinging to each other for comfort. He felt her tears dampen his shirt as he held her. Ragged breaths as she sobbed against him. Resting his cheek on the top of her head, he allowed her to cry. The stoic, confident woman that she was had broken down her walls to allow herself to relax against his strong body. He knew it wasn’t easy for her to show such emotion.

Fear was a difficult enemy to fight. No way to fight it because it was never the same and always changing. No one feared the same thing but even the strongest of humans or supernaturals all had a fear. An enemy that shouldn’t be fought against alone. Nate knew that he would need to prove to Emma that he would always be by her side to fight against her fears now that her world has turned into chaos. 

His fear was that next time he would be too late to protect her. A fear that no one was going to be able to help him with but he was going to fight it with his last breath.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading & don't forget to let me know what you think!


End file.
